Good Chess Players at Poker or Myth?

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zc13expert

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I have seen through the years that many players or former chess players manage to be successful in poker, I do not know what percentage it will actually be with respect to those who try, in my opinion it is possible that it is due to the level of concentration that They acquire with chess and patience for each move, another of the great virtues of Poker players, as well as the ability to anticipate moves or thoughts of their opponents.

Is this a reality or a myth that the chess player ends up being a good poker player?
 
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3gdata

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Yes, I think so. Every chess player can become a good poker player, a least a decent one. All the player needs is patience and some time to learn the basics. After a while, he/she can easily beat at least NL2-NL5 or low tournaments. It's not that difficult to adjust chess game to poker, both of them are logical and math game.
 
FoxMS

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In general, I believe that any sport always helps to improve discipline and responsibility. Therefore, regardless of whether you play chess, tennis or football, regular sports training is always a significant advantage.
 
Sergei 9417

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Hello! In the past, I played chess well, I can't say that it helps me a lot in poker, in chess, intuition is useless, but assiduity can be, although I have patience by nature, whether it is there or not
 
ninjareal

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I think chess players have a slight edge in poker than non chess players, I used to play chess a lot and when I started playing poker it seemed a lot easier, I boasted to my friends in my neighbourhood that I can beat them soon after learning the rules, we ended up playing a small home game which I won easily, then entered some bigger fishing club who had mtt, 40+ players , won that too, and then again next time we played, since then I'm not sure whether I have gotten better or worse lol , however this almost shows that a chess backround is hard, tough, needs creativity and good memory, strong motivation and will to never give up, attention to detail, these are a few reasons I can think of that come from chess, some poker players learn this but perhaps over time and not from day 1 , my opinion :p
 
A fox 666

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All this is complete nonsense, I have not yet seen a single grandmaster who is a successful poker player.
 
monkey23

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there are transferable skills between the two games. But being very good at one does not automatically imply that one will get very good at the other.

The amount of time and devotion needed to reach the top at either game more or less prevents this.

But if one is good at strategy games generally, then i might suggest that one has a natural aptitude for this kind of thing. From my experience, the better one is at chess, the more likely one is to be able to become winning poker player. But this is by no means guaranteed as a ' given'.
 
yezzrr

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I played a lot of chess before getting into poker. I think the love of strategy really translates.
Since taking poker seriously, I've played very little chess lol
 
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Playing video games can help apparently too. Elky was playing Starcraft and Warcraft 3 at a high level before turning to poker.
 
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Chess players are patient, well-versed in math and strategy, I think they have good basic skills to be a good player.
 
AndyFio

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I believe that these are two intellectual games for calculating the moves in advance. I think a great chess player has to play poker well and vice versa. Many aspects of games overlap, and I myself play this and that.
 
gaarsiass

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I think there is something to it. I know a few players who play chess in their spare time and are more or less successful in poker. Both games require analytical thinking.
 
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I think chess players have some of the skills required to be a good poker player, like they have to be very strategist person and have a lot focus and patience to play chess.
 
Zvezda kz

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I don't know if this is a myth, but examples show that chess players have an edge in poker. But my nephew is a candidate master of sports in chess (he was once the champion of the millionth city) and he did not achieve much success (he did not achieve any results in poker at all).
I think poker requires more than just being a good chess player.
At one time I played chess well, but I didn't have any titles, maybe it helps me, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
 
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wasn't Obst a good chess player too? I mean, spoken german, chees and obst sounds super delicious. But chess and Obst too?
yes, it does. he was an very good chess-player.

Wasn't Mercier a good chess-player?
 
Flower2211

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In chess, everything is in front of your eyes, and in poker there is a lot of unknown, and based on this, I see no reason to draw parallels between these two games, even though they have something similar.
 
S3mper

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Playing video games can help apparently too. Elky was playing Starcraft and Warcraft 3 at a high level before turning to poker.

It's probably more of the fact that people who like playing video games are attracted to being able to play a game for money. - Especially competitive players.

-----

As for chess, strong players probably tend to be pretty analytical which certainly doesn't hurt in poker.
 
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1player2

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A good chess player is equipped with some important tools that are required to be a successful poker player but it is not a certainty.


MYTH


Typical generalization
 
Dejange

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Old but interesting article for best chess players poker winnings at the time issued: https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/19123

Looking at the figures earned from Top 10 - I could guess they are pretty satisfyed :p

PS: I know only one poker tournament that Veselin Topalov attend (following him as a countryman, of course), and the prize won is stunning $390 000 :eek:
 
NWPatriot

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Rather than thinking about chess translating well to poker, I think it is just that there are similarities between the two that help make it a logical transition.

Patience is a must for both. Ability to look forward more than just the current step is a must for both. Both games require an ability to run-out multiple scenarios in your head.

While I have never played chess competitively (at least since I was in 7th grade), I do enjoy playing chess and I do enjoy playing poker.

Good luck and God bless
 
terryk

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Playing good chess means making good decisions,,,,kind of like poker ;)
 
vnnby

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I don’t know how to play chess, although I don’t have any great achievements in poker. Who knows? it certainly won't be superfluous.
 
Laskunpo69

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I think so,because when people think in head and make this usuale,that helps with different things in live!
 
KozakAlex

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Chess players are excellent strategists. Poker is also a strategy. Success is achieved by smart people. Therefore, it is quite a normal and understandable trend.
 
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